Sensex ends flat amid high volatility

After a fairly bright start thanks to positive global cues, the Indian stock market retreated and slipped into negative territory as the session progressed, and, despite staging a smart recovery during the fag end of the day amid high volatility, closed flat on Tuesday.

While stocks opened higher, tracking the overnight sharp surge on Wall Street, where the indices rose sharply amid hopes that the U.S. policymakers will come out with a solution to fix the fiscal cliff, renewed worries about eurozone debt crisis rendered the mood a bit bearish in afternoon trade.

The BSE benchmark Sensex, which declined to 18,255.69 from the day's high of 18,467.91, ended the day with a loss of 9.68 points at 18,329.32. The Nifty index of the National Stock Exchange closed at 5571.55, slightly above its previous closing mark. The Nifty touched a high of 5613.70 and a low of 5548.35 during the day.